Airfares: Bellingham builds up capacity as cross-border fare wars heat up
 

Bellingham, Wash., is so bullish on Canadian air travel that it’s tripling the size of its terminal.
With nearly two out of three Bellingham passengers hailing from Canada, a new 100,000-square-foot terminal is under construction that will dwarf the present 27,000-sq.-ft. facility.
Dean Zenk, director of aviation for the Port of Bellingham, says it’s simple math — Canadians can save money, often lots of money, by driving across the border and flying from U.S. airports.
“A recent study found that 62 per cent of the passengers coming out of Bellingham are Canadian,” said Zenk, who wasn’t surprised when told that a Conference Board of Canada study found five million Canadians cross the border each year to hop on cheaper U.S. flights.
“The fees are lower. It’s particularly the international fees.”
The growing Bellingham airport is bringing prosperity along with an ever-growing bucketful of loonies — the airport’s 10-year plan calls for the 2011 total of 511,000 outbound passengers to grow to 800,000 by 2021.
“Some [Canadians] will spend the night, park their cars at the hotel and get a shuttle to the airport,” Zenk said. “Others will do some shopping before they hop on a flight.”
The conference board study found that government policy changes might convince two million of those passengers to fly from Canada next time around.
“I’m always concerned about that,” said Zenk. “This is a very dynamic industry, with airlines constantly coming off destinations or adding new destinations.”
Within the travel and airline sectors, the consensus is federal fees and surcharges are strangling the Canadian travel industry.
“Something needs to happen. There needs to be the recognition that five million people are deciding to drive because it is too expensive to fly here … and so much of that is taxes and surcharges and user-fees and security charges,” said Marc-André O’Rourke, director of the National Airlines Council of Canada, which represents the country’s four largest airlines, Air Canada, Jazz, WestJet and Air Transat.
Depending on destination, third-party surcharges could make up to an estimated 40 per cent of ticket costs in Canada, he said.
O’Rourke pointed out that U.S. border airports are also heavily marketing to Canadians. The Plattsburgh, N.Y., airport, which is an hour from Montreal, has dubbed itself the “Montreal South” airport and parts of its website are in French, while the Buffalo, N.Y., airport, near Toronto, has border-crossing tips and pictures of passengers wearing maple leaves on its website.
Bellingham, O’Rourke said, was also a “huge” drain on Canadian passengers.
Vancouver airport’s Alisa Gloag said in an email that such competition was inevitable.
“Passengers have choices when selecting airlines and airports,” she said. “We know that we will not always be able to compete on cost with airports south of the border. We also know that YVR customers appreciate the convenience of a local airport and the superior passenger experience we provide.”
Passengers at YVR on Wednesday said they’ll usually trade convenience for savings.

Bethany Henzel of White Rock chose YVR on Tuesday — even though Bellingham is just across the border from her home. “It’s close to the border, but it’s more of a hassle,” Henzel said as she prepared to board a flight to Arizona.
Husband David said he knows there’s money to be saved across the line. “It’s cheaper out of Bellingham,” he said. “We don’t do it, but lots of people do.”
Joan Johnson and Marlyn Hill were bound for Las Vegas on Wednesday — but originating from Victoria they first have to “get off the rock” (Vancouver Island), so Vancouver makes more sense.
Hill said she flew out of Seattle to save money on a trip to Florida, but usually sticks to Vancouver.


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My question: I wonder if the prov/fed governments have done any research on why shit costs so much more in Canada compared to USA.

Uhhh...because in Canada Somthing like 40% of an airfare is taxes and fee's, dont think it takes much research
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A lot of people are very pro-bellingham, because most times than not it's significantly cheaper, even if you factor in border times and the inconveniences associated.

Others swear by YVR, saying things like my time is worth more than I save.

I don't think there's a right or wrong answer, and if you're comfortable doing what you do, then continue doing it.

As to answer your question, they will pay a US firm to do the research, then be told that shit is so much more expensive due to terrible governing and placement of tariff systems and archaic logic that may have made sense 40 years ago. Then they will hide all that, and tell the public that global economy and rising fuel costs are to blame.

whats with all the bellingham stories lately,

the media needs to stop drawing so much attention to this shit before the government does something to force us all to actually spend money on our local economy

With all new volume allegiant is bound to have a crash lol
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The Govt makes it more expensive.. like the other guy said, majority of the difference in price is additional taxes and airport improvement fees.

Or maybe they'll use all the money they're raking in to improve their units or buy new ones (which they have). I don't see how more volume = crash? Cathay Pacific does a lot more volume than Allegiant and as far as I know nothing has happened...

Ive heard enough stories first hand from people to not want to fly allegiant
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only used them once and it wasn't that bad.

I've used Allegiant a couple of times and I have no complaints at all. Yes you might have to wait at the border but man it is so much cheaper to fly from the states. Our Vegas trip through YVR in August was 1500 for two people. Through Allegiant it only cost me 550 taxes in.

Is this flight only or a package that includes hotel?

Last year, it only cost me $350 per person to fly from YVR and stay for 3 nights, mon-wed, at the Wynn.

if bellingham ever had cheap flights out to asia, gg yvr

That was flight only

someone sucks at searching up deals lol

does seem a little high but could also depend on time of year as well no?

hope will major airlines (united, AA, etc)take notice and start service from bellingham.

August should be the cheapest time of year as demand to go to Vegas should be down since it is more than 40C there.

550 Taxes in with return for two people in the middle of July is quite cheap compared to going through YVR. Plus I have time share so the resort was free:)

this

I wish there were more airlines in canada

i flew from vegas to phoenix with southwest for a total of $60

if you go vancouver to calgary (roughly same distance) it's at least $200

The higher prices has to do with the taxes and airport improvement fees that YVR charges.

Roundtrip from Van to Regina cost over $500 tax in.

But if more flights and destinations start from Bellingham, that would force the people at YVR to rethink their taxing structure.

Someone I know flew from Seattle to YVR then to HK and saved over $300 person as opposed to flying on the same flight but starting from YVR to HK.

Just got back from Vegas over the weekend. $270usd with return! Can't really complain at that price lol

I flew outta SeaTac once, but I don't think I would do it again. The drive home was brutal especially after a 6+ hour flight and jet lag.

So you guys drive down to the Bellingham airport and park your cars there? How much do they charge per day? Is it still cheaper after paying for parking?

I agree. We caught a 6 am flight from Miami, did a layover in Carolina and landed at Seatac just after 3 where we missed the 3pm shuttle bus back to Van. We had to wait at the airport for the 6 pm bus.

Next time, I'd say book a night at a hotel in Seatle before driving back home.

We used the coupon in the Entertainment book for 50% off which worked out to $50 per person round trip to take the bus from Vancouver to SeaTac and back. The bus even has wifi.

I heard parking was $9 per day at Bellingham. Not sure what SeaTac charges.

I've only flown with Allegiant and out of the Bellingham airport once and it wasn't bad at all.

With that said, every time I decide to go somewhere I take a peak at the price for flying out of Bellingham and every time it was only a saving of about $100 - $200/person. Now money doesn't grow on trees for me so I'm not saying $100-$200 is peanuts for me but factoring in the time it takes to get there including border wait times, paying for parking, luggage fees etc I rather just fly out of YVR.

I have seen from time to time some crazy saving through Bellingham and I'm talking about half the cost of YVR but unfortunately none of those times I needed to travel so it didn't mean much to me.

As for flying out of Seattle, not even something I would consider. Bellingham is close and takes no time to get to but Seattle is a bit far to save me some money. I don't know about you guys but when I come back from a trip I want to get home ASAP. I do not want to get stuck driving 2+ hours + border wait times to get home.